Canada's field hockey men staying positive despite 0-3 start in Olympic tournament
'We're going to hit reset button,' says Smythe before facing world champions Belgium
Canadian defender John Smythe isn't about to concede defeat in the men's Olympic field hockey tournament, even though his squad is winless in three games.
Canada was unable to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the opening five minutes on Tuesday, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Netherlands in Tokyo.
"It's not over. We have two more games, and we have six points to get, to push us into the [quarter-finals]," Smythe told Field Hockey Canada. "We're going to hit the reset button. We have a rest day [Wednesday], let's get recovered and we're going to focus on the next game and see if we can get six points."
Canada faces Belgium, the reigning world champions and European bronze medallists, on Thursday (Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET). Belgium sits atop Pool B at 3-0 with 15 goals scored, while the Canadians are last in the six-team group.
WATCH | Canada winless-in-3 to open Olympic tournament:
Canada had hopes of building off momentum created in Monday's heartbreaking 3-1 loss to Great Britain. However, the team responded well to its slow start against the Dutch, with forward Jamie Wallace of Vancouver getting the Canadians on the board in the 10th minute with his first Olympic goal and 14th in international play.
It remained 2-1 until Joep de Mol carried the ball down the right side and into the circle before his crossing attempt handcuffed Canada goalkeeper Antoni Kindler in the 50th minute.
'We didn't get many circle entries'
Three minutes later, Canadian captain Scott Tupper and Mark Pearson worked together to make it a one-goal contest, with the latter tipping the ball to the top corner.
With Canada trailing 3-2, Kindler was pulled at the 55-minute mark, but the Netherlands added another goal into an empty net for its second win in three starts.
"We knew they were going to possess the ball for the most part," Wallace said, "so when we got our chances, we had to make the most of them. And I think we did that tonight.
"We didn't get many circle entries and, at the end, it just wasn't enough."
WATCH | The Olympians — men's field hockey:
In other games Tuesday, Australia won its third in a row, 5-2 over reigning Olympic champions Argentina, while Germany also scored five, handing Britain its first loss, 5-1.
Belgium's Red Lions brushed aside South Africa, winning 9-4, India defeated Spain 3-0 and host Japan earned its first point of the tournament with a 2-2 draw against New Zealand.
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